Rear attachment for suction cleaners



Oct. 17, 1950 F. s How ARD REAR A TTAcmmNr FOR sucTIoN CLEANERS 2 SheetsSheet 1 Filad pas. 2' 1944 Patented Oct. 17, 1950 REAR ATTACHMENT FOR SUCTION CLEANERS Frank S. Howard, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Birtman Electric Company,

a corporation of Illinois Application December 2, 1944, Serial No. 566,308 2 Claims` (Cl. 15--337) This inv-ention relates to a rear attachment for suction cleaners whereby pieces of auxiliary equipment may be communicatingly connected in the air stream normally drawn from the front opening of the cleaner through the dust collector.

One of the chief advantages to this invention is that it provides means whereby an attachment to suction cleaners may be readily inserted into the cleaner to automatically make connection with the source of'suction. At the same time the normal path of the air flow, which usually enters the cleaner at the front opening, will be cut off so that the full power of the fan may be directed through the attachment. Then pieces of cleaning equipment may be connected to this attachment and used for general cleaning work. Another advantage is that as soon as the operator is finished with the attachment it may be easily withdrawn and this withdrawing automatically redirects the air flow through the usual front opening. This makes the attachment very easy and convenient to use.

The invention will`be described as related to a typical embodiment of the same as shown in the drawings. Figure 1 is a side elevation, partially broken away for clarity of illustration, of a suction cleaner with the attachment in place; Figure 2 is a section taken along line 2 2 in Fig. l; Figure 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the front end of the attachment.

The suction cleaner shown in Figure 1 includes the usual housing lll, motor II, front opening I2 and brush I3 mounted to revolve in contact with the rug beneath the front opening. On the motor shaft i4, which turns the brush by means of a belt and pulley arrangement, there is mounted a fan I5 positioned in a fan chamber I6. 'Ihe motor shaft also serves as the fan shaft. There is a communicating air path or passageway I1 from the front opening into the fan chamber and out through an exhaust opening attached the usual dust bag. The bottom of this passageway is defined by a bottom plate on the cleaner as shown in Figures l and 2. In addi-- tion to these features. which are usually found Y in the ordinary type of cleaner, there is also provided an auxiliary passageway I9 extending from beneath the fan chamber to the rear of the f cleaner housing. This passageway is normally closed oif by a hinged gate member 20 held in normally closed position by means of a spring 2| on the hinge. This gate member is designed to prevent leakage of air through the passageway I8 to which may be' 2 I9 while the cleaner is being used on rugs or the like and without the attachment.

The passageway described above and normally closed by the gate member 2G is-designed to receive the attachment 22 which is an elongated structure relatively at in cross-section and having a hollow construction forming a passageway for the free passage of air. This attachment has a bifurcated terminal end in the shape of a yoke 23 at the front end with the indented walls of the yoke substantially parallel but rounded at the bottom.` The outer edges of the yoke are rounded to meet these inner walls at the front of the at tachment, The attachment has a substantially circular opening 24 on top at the front end and around the yoke structure for communication with the fan chamber I 6 when the attachment is in place. The attachment 22 and the rearwardly extending passageway I 9 in the cleaner are so constructed that when the attachment is in place it is inclined upwardly at the rear and the sides of the attachment are in frictional contact with the sides of the passageway. Such an arrangement insures holding the attachment in place.

When using the suction cleaner attachment, it is inserted into the cleaner through the rear passageway IB and pushed in as far as it will go, thereby shoving aside the hinged gate 20. The attachment is stopped in the proper position by the inner walls of the bifurcated terminal end portion or yoke contacting a rounded housing 25 located around the motor shaft and extending around the rear of the portion of the shaft that projects into the air passageway from the front of the cleaner. The rounded housing 25 in the vacuum cleaner has substantially parallel side walls and blocks a minor part of the fan chamber opening, as shown in Figures 3 and 2. When the attachment is in place, the opening 24 extends around this housing, as shown in Figure 3. In this position of the attachment the air passageway from the fan chamber communicates with the interior of the attachment through its top opening and draws air through the attachment. The normal air path through the front opening of the cleaner is at the same time cut on by the marginal wall on the front end of the attachments yoke. Thereupon various pieces of cleaning equipment may be connected to the rear end of the attachment and air will be drawn through them.

As soon as the attachment has served its purpose, the pieces of auxiliary equipment being used in connection with the attachment may be removed and the attachment is withdrawn from the passageway. As soon as it is withdrawn, the gate designed to block the passageway is raised into position by its spring. Air flow is again set up from the front opening of the cleaner through the fan chamber. Thus, it can be seen that the proper connections within the cleaner are made automatically merely upon insertion of the attachment and, as soon as the attachment is withdrawn, the normal cleaning function of the Inachine is automatically restored.

Having described my invention in considerable detail as applied to one embodiment of the same, it is my intention that the invention be not limitedby these details, unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A suction cleaner comprising a body portion, a front nozzle in the body portion having an opening in the nozzle, a bottom plate on the body portion, an air passageway in the body portion leading from said opening back along said bottom plate to a point short of the rear end of the cleaner, a substantially horizontal fan chamber above the rear end of said air passageway having an opening between the rear end of the air passageway and the fan chamber, a rotatable fan in said fan chamber, a shaft upon which said fan is mounted extending through said opening into the air passageway, a housing around the rear part of that portion of the shaft that is in said air passageway and extending forwardly of the shaft, said forward part of the housing having substantially parallel side walls and blocking a minor ,part of the fan chamber opening, an auxiliary passageway in the body portion extending from the rear end of the air passageway to the rear of the cleaner and aligned with said air passageway in a substantially straight line, a hinged gate member near the rear end of said auxiliary passageway and normally closing said auxiliary passageway with the gate member being displaceable inwardly, and a hollow attachment having an air passageway therein and insertable in the rear end of said auxiliary passageway and displacing said gate member to a nonobstructing position, said attachment having a bifurcated terminal end portion provided with inner walls and adapted to extend around at least the rear part of said housing and an opening in the top of said bifurcated end for registering with the entire area of the fan chamber opening that normally communicates with the air passageway from the nozzle, and a front marginal wall on said bifurcated end adapted to extend from top to bottom of said air passageway to close said air passageway off from the front nozzle opening.

2. The suction cleaner of claim 1 wherein the attachment is of relatively at rectangular crosssection and has the bifurcated end rounded in a generally semi-circular shape for ease of insertion of the attachment, with the inner walls of the bifurcated portions being substantially parallel for contact with said forward walls of said fan shaft housing and joined at their inner ends by a wall section for fitting closely around the rear portion of said fan shaft housing.

FRANK S. HOWARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS v Number Name Date 1,236,944 Kirby Aug. 14, 1917 1,302,929 Kirby May 6, 1919 1,506,858 Orr Sept. 2, 1924 1,820,350 Dance Aug. 25, 1931 1,856,136 Orr May 3, 1932 1,907,644 Fairfax May 9, 1933 1,928,937 Hoover Oct. 3, 1933 2,053,316 Becker Sept. 8, 1936 2,070,682 Pierce Feb. 16, 1937 2,080,480 Hoover May 18, 1937 2,094,126 Kitto Sept. 28, 1937 2,143,018 Kitto Jan. 10, 1939 2,172,960 Kilpatrick Sept. 12, 1989 2,187,654 Eriksson-Jons Jan. 16, 1940 2,188,379 Taylor Jan. 30, 1940 2,218,035 Benson Oct. 15, 1940 

